The Simien National Park - Ethiopia - Essay Example

The Simien National Park - Ethiopia Faculty Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Simien National Park – Ethiopia- Ecological Diversity and Uniqueness III. Human Intrusions Threats IV. Protection and Preservation of the Area V. Possible loss due to Intrusion Ignorance VI. Conclusion and Recommendations VII. Reference I. Introduction This paper is an effort to understand the biodiversity of Simien National Park situated in Ethiopia. It is listed on World Heritage in Danger list in the year 1996. The park is unique in its geographical, ecological and biodiversity. The first section of this paper provides general information about the Simien National Park. The same section covers various aspects of ecological diversity. This section is followed by Human Intrusion threats section. In the section protection and preservation of the area researcher has covered general issues related to the topic. At the end of the paper the possible losses, recommendation and conclusion is covered. II. The Simien National Park – Ethiopia- Ecological Diversity and Uniqueness The Simien National Park is a Natural World Heritage Site. It has been added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1996. There were two main reasons of adding this site to the list i.e. heavy settlement and Walia ibex population decline. It is spread over the area of 13,600ha. “In northern Ethiopia on the Amhara plateau in the western Simen Mountains, 120km north-east of Gondar. Location: 13° 11N, 38° 04E. The town of Adi Arkay lies to the north, Debark, on the Gondar-Asmara highway, to the south-west and Deresge to the south east.” (The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Website) Image 1 Extreme Altitude and Plants Image 2: Forest The park has jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and precipices. This park has approximately five to ten species of endemism, seasonal Highland biome and four different types of floral vegetation due to geographic variations. The four different floristic vegetations are as follows: Afromontane forest, Hypericum woodland, Afromontane grassland and Alpine moorland Afromontane forest has variety of flora and fauna. The two wet seasons of this park and its typical geographic characteristics adds to the variety of plants and vegetations. Xeromorphic adaptations are common on the high attitudes. Table 1 Geographic Zones and Vegetation Different Geographic Zones Common Vegetation Forests below 3000 meters Syzygium guinense, Juniperus procera and Olea africana Gorge sides and ridge tops Grasslands, creepers Rumex nervosus, Otostegia minucci, Thymus spp., Trifolium spp., Geranium arabicum, and Clematis simensis and Galium spurium Alpine zone Alpine grassland, tree heather, African rose, yellow prime rose, Helichrysum spp., ladys mantle, Lichens, grasslands Fauna: Rare species like Walia ibex, Gelada Baboon, Simien wolf and various other species of animals and birds are natural habitants of this park. There are twenty-one species of mammals recorded for this region. Seven species of mammals are listed as endemic species. There are sixty-three species of birds including twelve endemic species. Image 3Gelada Baboon Image 4 Lammergeier Image 5 Walia Ibex (endemic species) The list of some important mammals and birds is as follows (UNEP Website): Table 2: Animals and Birds in The Simien National Park Animals Birds Walia ibex Capra walie (CR) Simen wolf Canis simensis simensis (CR), Gelada baboon Theropithecus gelada (R), Hamadryas baboon Papio hamadryas, Anubis baboon Papio anubis, Black and white vervet Corcopithecus aethiops, Colobus monkey Colobus sp.,serval Felis serval, Leopard Panthera pardus, Caracal Felis caracal, Wild cat F. silvestris, Spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta, Golden jackal Canis aureus, Herbivores like bushbuck Tragelaphus scriptus Bush duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus Bostrychia carunculata, Spot-billed plover Hoplopterus melanocephalus, Whitecollared pigeon Columba albitorques, Blackwinged lovebird Agopornis taranta, Blackheaded forest oriole Oriolus menarche, Whitewinged cliff-chat, Myrmicocichla melaena, Ruppells chat  Myrmicocichla semirufa, Blackheaded siskin Serinus nigiceps, Abyssinian catbird Parophasma galinieri, Abyssinian longclaw Macronyx flavicollis, Whitebilled starling Onychognathus albirostris Thickbilled raven Cornus crassirostris. 25 species of raptors including lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus This National Park is not only important for its biodiversity, but also important for its cultural heritage. According to Hurni (1986 as cited on UNEP Website)This region has various features of 18th and 19th centuries. Kirwan (1972 as cited on UNEP Website) claims that cultivators for at least of two thousand years have inhabited Simien region. III. Human Intrusions Threats Threats from Inhabitants: Population living within the National Park is highly depended on its natural resources. People are living in extreme conditions. They are involved in agriculture, their animals graze on the grassland and other areas, and they cut trees to get wood and other things of their needs. Deforestation, burning of woods a grass, hunting and domestic livestock are contributing to the threats for the biodiversity of this park. Government had tried to relocate inhabitants forcefully in 1979-80s but it resulted on civil unrest and government had to allow them coming back to The National Park. The villages around the park have more than thirty thousand population. This population also utilises resources of The National Park. Due to all these factors, the pressure on this area has increased. Land is degrading. Image 6 and 7: Local inhabitants and nearby Villagers Threats from Visitors: For the convenience of tourist and make The National Park attractive, roads and other infrastructure, facilities are building up in the park. This is reducing the natural area. Tourism also results in pollution and waste. Non-degradable materials such as plastics and glass not only disturb the environment but also influence the food chain. Animals depending grazing eat plastic bags and materials by mistakes and it disturbs their health. The glass pieces often harm animals. The careless behavior of tourists and locals disturbs flora and fauna of The National Park. IV. Protection and Preservation of the Area There has been numbers of studies and recommendations for the protection and preservation of this area. These range from removing human inhabitants to increasing staff to take care of park. However, the practical difficulty for any effort of preservation and prevention in this area is its extreme conditions like topography and altitudinal ranges, civil unrest against zoning, limited budget and others. There have been several efforts done by the regional, national and international bodies. WWF, UNEP, UNESCO and others provide support for many of its projects preservations and protection. V. Possible loss due to Intrusion Ignorance Deforestation has already been one of the visible results of the Intrusion ignorance. Various species of plants and animals either are at the verge of extinction or have been included in the list of endangered species. The threat to their existence is increasing every day with increase in human intrusion. These losses are not limited to the biodiversity of the area. This will also have ecological implications such as imbalance of natural resources and natural inhabitants, change in weather and geographic conditions and many others. “From 3000m to 3800m was once Erica arborea - Hypericum revolutum (tree heather/giant St.Johns wort) heath-woodland but few trees remain since the area was cleared for growing cereals. This tufted grassland, formerly a rich mosaic, has been largely replaced by short-grass turf, erosion and stream pollution by cattle. Above it is alpine moorland with mosses of the Grimmiacea family (Ashine, 1982).” (as cited on UNEP Website) VI. Conclusion and Recommendations This national park is probably one of the best places of biodiversity on the planet. It has unique biodiversity and ecological variations that are rare to find elsewhere. It is not only important for the biodiversity point of view but also important from the cultural point of view. In such scenario, any effort of conservation, prevention and protection cannot be successful without the participation of local people in and around the park. The first effort should start with educating and informing them about the features, importance of protection and prevention of The National Park. In the second step, they can be informed about the future implications that can result with the ignorance. Instead of excluding local inhabitants from the process of preservation and protection, including them will give better results. People will feel part of the process. Their involvement level will be high. They can be offered jobs at The National Park that can range from caretakers to guide or any other position. They can be given different kinds of training depending upon their interest and abilities. Government needs to get local support in order to protect it. The number of villages, cultivation areas and grazing areas can be limited. There can be provisions of fines and penalties after certain numbers of warnings for the people ignoring rules and regulations. Instead of adopting direct and extreme measures such as forceful rehabilitation, Government can adopt indirect measures of fines, penalties, punishments or offering better living conditions, job opportunities and others outside the National Park. The chances of civil unrest in such strategies would be less. Appointment of Public Relations Officers to empathize and speak with local villagers and convincing them for the rehabilitation and preservations related activities. This can be slow process but will be effective in long run. VII. Reference: (APA) SIMEN NATIONAL PARK, ETHIOPIA (n.d.) retrieved on 30 October 2007 from http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/simen.html Simien Mountain National Park, Northern Ethiopia Images (n.d.) 1 to 7 retrieved on 30 October 2007 from http://addisbandb.com/SimienMountainNationalParkEthiopiaGallery.htm Simien Mounthain National Park (n.d.) retrieved on 30 October 2007 from http://realethiopia.com/nature/national-parks/simien-mountain-national-park.html Read More